Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019) – 15/16 [Overdrive: The King of Distortion 2/3]

by SuperMario, posted in Boogiepop wa Warawanai (2019), Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense

The nightmare never seems to end. During episode 15, we have three separate segments of characters stuck in their own dreams: Makoto’s mother, Sakiko and Kentarou. Play into Boogiepop’s strength, these characters have their own drama and each of their story explores different aspect of this phenomenal, all related to the King of Distortion himself. More impressively, these segments still have a progression. From passively in the case of Makoto’s mother to Kentarou who eventually tries his way to fix it himself. So far, more so than previous arcs, this “King of Distortion” arc is much more surreal and psychological, which very much within my domain. What Boogiepop does right in these individual segment is how it can draw out the drama, the “struggles” in the past these characters can’t get pass even to this day. One thing that both these characters aware is that they’re in a dream and the person they talk with is the King of Distortion. It’s interesting to note that he’s only there as a listener for these characters to confront their own traumatic past, and he appears to do nothing beyond that. He’s just there to open that hole that others hide in their heart. Boogiepop themselves is uncertain whether he’s a foe and not. It’s more that this strange phenomenal serves as a catalyst to something more destructive.

Tracking down the events of these three segments, we have Shizuka, Makoto’s Mom, who reveals that she’s pregnant by an unknown father, which she thought might be Teratsuki’s (although Teratsuki isn’t human hence he can’t impregnate a girl). I like what Shizuka was going through there, she’s a whirlwind of inconsistencies and that makes her utterly relatable. A sheltered girl with insecurities, for example. The way she keeps hanging on Teratsuki and her relationship with her son Makoto. Not until episode 16 with the revelation of Zooragi and what it means for Makoto should we know how her decision impacts him in a profound way. Then we have quite a sad story of Sakiko and her deceased childhood friend Hinako, whom she was looked up to, and was jealous of. Unlike other segments where these negative feelings were much more sinister and uglier, the trauma both Shizuka, Sakiko and Kentarou go through are more of a regret, of something they should’ve done better in the past and that lead to how they become the way they are in the present. For Kentarou, he has a crush with the awesome Nagi, and he immediately realises that the world he is currently experience is within his memory. Well, until he meets Makoto and learns that multiple dreams have merged anyway.

And the we come back to Nitoki’s perspective during the first half of episode 16. She has been a fascinating character to me. She knows about the true existence of Boogiepop, and she does her own research about multiple personalities. Suema does a perfect job of confusing us more by assert her theory that “there is no multiple personalities because we can’t really prove it”. While I don’t necessarily agree with her theory, it informs the attitude of Boogiepop the series – that all these psychological abnormalities, and at large all these supernatural recurring, are all come from within one’s mind. I certainly feel the deadpan remark of Boogiepop when they hand out the bento Touka made for Takade to her rival (and she indeed eats it). Nikoti then concludes that King of Distortion is her alternative personality (that would explain why it functions as a memory) but whether that means in a big picture is still up in the air. The King of Distortion himself refers to all this as an “experiment”, and I have a great sense that none of the character, even Boogiepop and King of Distortion, know how this experiment going to pan out.

All that lead to the big reveal where pieces start to fall neatly into its assigned place. Zooragi the monster. As the Moon Temple starts crumbling by an unknown force, we soon learn that it’s Zooragi who goes berserk. We know about him in the very beginning of this arc, but now we know his significant. He was Makoto’s painting about his father. This single detail can inform you how Makoto feel about the father he has never met or known. It’s interesting to note that Zooragi acts in accordance to Makoto and it’s Makoto who is on the verge of totally losing control. So we have the final showdown between Boogiepop and Zooragi, where they apparently chops Zooragi’s head off, so that Makoto can control himself and falls back to sleep. All this is, after all, just a product of human psyche, just like the King of Distortion himself.

Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 22 [Embrace Your Loneliness]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Hello all and welcome to the penultimate episode of Kaze Fui! This week we see King’s struggle, Kurahara takes off and Sakaki becomes a little less hate-able. Lets take off running, we have a lot to cover!

In terms of animation and production, Kaze Fui surprised me this week. I didn’t think that, after Yuki last week, that it would do anything new. I assumed we would get some more of Kurahara’s running through dimensions bit, which looks good, but isn’t new at this point. What was new though was King’s facial expressions and Kurahara’s stunning shedding of his earthly concerns. The first was just funny. It meshed well with King’s story and helped lighten the tone a bit, so the shift isn’t so sudden when we go to Kurahara. Meanwhile Kurahara’s bit was just beautiful to look at. Like an animated Buddhist enlightenment, it was like Kurahara was shedding his earthly concerns and just dedicating himself to the run. For someone who started such an angry boy, it really struck me then how far he had come. But we will get to him later, onto spoilers!

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Kemurikusa – 08/09/10

by SuperMario, posted in Finished Series: Adventure/Fantasy/Science Fiction, Kemurikusa

Welp, I don’t think I have taken that long break before since I started blogging. My life has been busier than usual lately and I also feel a little bit burnt out from blogging lately. Writing can be a pain sometimes. Hopefully this is just a temporary slump because I’m not intending to stop blogging anytime soon. Now let’s get back to the last three episodes of Kemurikusa where the world-building remains just as intriguing, the characters getting slightly better and we still have absolutely no idea where the whole journey is going to end. I was certainly taken aback by Kemurikusa’s decision to skip over the big cliffhanger at the end of episode 7. There were an army of Red Bugs and the sea of Red Mist after all, and all it took is 3 seconds into episode 8. Now, upon reflection, while that skip is definitely jarring and affects my suspension of disbelief quite a bit, it does fit with the kind of story Kemurikusa is trying to tell. It’s more about the characters’ relationship and how they figuring out that worldbuilding together, not about them fighting red bugs. Wakaba has gotten full trust from the girls right now, but the star(s) of episode 8 are those little white bugs. They themselves have their own sad stories: products that no longer have any purpose, a bunch of sad sacks who live because they can’t die. Just for a 5 minute duration, these adorable bugs sacrifice themselves because at least they die knowing that their lives have a purpose.

In episode 9, Wakaba encounters the other 2 supposedly-deceased sisters, Ryo the fighter and Ryoku the tsundere scholar. These girls’ personalities are fun and distinctive enough that they make a good impression and clearly stand out on their own. Ryo is hyperactive and has an acute sense of smell (the five sense motif is running strong here), whereas Ryoku is the mind, the one with knowledge (and a written diary). One interesting fact is that these girls are from the same body in which one personality emerges at the time. This could mean that either they are just a hallucination of Wakaba (the others haven’t seen them at all), or they are using the same leaf right now, and for whatever reasons they don’t want to meet their sisters (my big guess is simply because they can’t). In episode 10 we also learn an important detail: the flashback through the point of view of the First Person, who turns out to be a child as well. Whatever written in the memory leaf, or moreso, whatever erased in the leaf written by the First Person, will serve as a big revelation for these next few episodes.

As their journey has gotten into its last leg, it’s almost unavoidable to see the team members apart. I mean, it fits neatly to the hopeless tone of their situations and the dark grim nature these girls are in, and although I could see where it was going with all the “this is the last time” scenes, the time where they part way is still goddamn heartfelt. Rin and Ritsu have their final farewell when Ritsu reaffirms how glad that she is Rin and Rina’s older sister, and the part where they decide to stay behind while slowly withering away strikes the right chore emotionally. In a wasteland world where there’s only destruction and everything resembling life will eventually vanish, it’s the fondness and the love from the sisters that will always remain. Even for Rin, imagine saying goodbye to the home she used to and the very people she wanted to protect. The journey continues, but the presence of those lost souls still remain.

Dororo – 11 [The Story of Banmon, Part 1]

by Lenlo, posted in Dororo

Lets skip the preamble this week and just dive in to Dororo! On this episode our plucky pair explore Daigo’s city, fight some fox spirits and get in a bit of a pickle. Lets go!

Startin off, Dororo had some interesting visuals and colors this week. With the Fox Spirits and the Crazy Woman sticking out to me the most. Both had some great colors and unique styles to them. The Fox Spirits for instance had some fantastic greens and blues, really selling that other-worldliness in a series that is mostly natural greens and browns. They really brightened up their scene and drew the focus. The crazy woman on the other hand had some nice blending. With the green/black drooping from her eyes nicely accenting her sickness. It’s a simple effect, but one I loved. So overall while Dororo is not the most visually impressive series in this season, I can say it has established its style. Unlike Mob Psycho, which changes every scene almost, Dororo is really sticking to its older aesthetic and that sets it apart, similar to what Megalo Box did.

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Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 11 [Guidance ~Psychic Sensor~]

by Lenlo, posted in Mob Psycho 100 II

Hello and welcome once more to the Mob Psycho 100 blog, where I gush about Mob Psycho 100! This week see’s an old villains return, multiple defeats and more of Mob’s growth. Lets dive in!

Now, at this point I feel like a broken record when talking about Mob Psycho’s animation. But the fact is, Bones is killing it this season. Yeah there are parts that look iffy as still’s, sometimes when the action slows down Mob Psycho’s style is off putting. But this is anime god dang-it, its meant to be viewed in motion, and Mob Psycho looks unparalleled in motion. All three of the fights this week could be another series finale, with the scale and prowess that went into them. This isn’t even mentioning Mogami, who seems to be Bone’s excuse to get weird every time he shows up. Combine this with the tracking camera, inventive use of space and liberal interpretation of the word “adaptation” and you have enough animation to take over Sakugabooru every week. Still, none of this is new to you, so lets just get to the spoilers.

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Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai – 10

by SuperWooper, posted in Finished Series: Romance, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai

There are times when I judge anime series based on the number of screencaps I’m compelled to take per episode. This was one of those times. After closing the video and taking a look at my desktop, I was unsurprised to see it littered with mpv-shot files, all featuring distinct facial expressions, poses, and situations that were instantly memorable to me. The point I’m belaboring here is that this was a great episode of Kaguya-sama, even though it continued to explore a plot point from last week about which I wasn’t too jazzed. Though the consequences of the “sick in bed” plot were in focus for two of these three chapters, the show was packed with fun details and moments that had me smiling or laughing periodically throughout. Take the first segment, where Kaguya and Shirogane’s frustrations cause them to enter a gigantic argument over a piece of cake. Recognizing the need for de-escalation, Ishigami flees the room in search of Fujiwara, whose face (surrounded by sunflowers) balloons towards the camera like a scene transition from a retro American cartoon. The contrast between the heated fight in the council room and Fujiwara’s status as a comedic icon was too delicious not to play with, but the show pushed it even further than I expected with that silly logo. Kaguya and Shirogane’s rage marks popping like balloons was another neat touch, perhaps foreshadowing their anger evaporating once they took the other’s position into account.

The second chapter took a less conflict-driven, more thoughtful approach to the characters’ feud, with the president and vice president becoming advice seekers (rather than the advice givers they’ve been in past episodes). Kashiwagi and Ishigami give typically female and male answers to their inquirers’ questions, but also prompt Kaguya and Shirogane to think more deeply about the situation. Kaguya’s desire to have been touched is a tricky one to navigate (especially given her lack of sexual knowledge), but I think the show managed it with some grace, since her affection for the president is more than physical. What’s particularly interesting about the resolution of their fight is that Shirogane’s apology dovetails with the fulfillment of her wish, lending a sort of destined feeling to their romance. After Kaguya’s moment of reciprocity, the whole thing ends with an even playing field, but also the sense that some progress has been made between them. To me, this is the best way such a story could have possibly concluded, so bravo to the mangaka for providing a perfect blueprint for the anime. Also, Ishigami deserves a special mention for unconsciously (and hilariously) pouring all his frustration with women into his conversation with Shirogane. Their bro session nicely sets up a moment they share in the week’s final segment.

Free from the shackles of its sexless sleep session, Kaguya-sama revisits the idea of our characters taking a trip together, since summer vacation is quickly approaching. They quickly settle on a summer festival, which excites the fireworks-obsessed Kaguya in the episode’s cutest moment (pictured above). The layout of that scene was perfect, with the prospect of pyrotechnics proving so enticing to the VP that her enthusiasm forces even the bubbly Fujiwara out of the shot. Each character was used to great effect in this scene, with Ishigami acting as a unifying agent for the rest of the student council. Fujiwara temporarily adopts his role as the one to leave the room under the influence of some social trauma, but my inner theorist wonders whether this is just an excuse to get her out of the way for a bit. With the number of festival attendees down to three, perhaps some sort of romantic triangle will develop around a yukata-clad Kaguya? After an episode this good, I’m excited to see how the show’s summer vacation pans out, regardless of my ridiculous speculation. Kaguya’s in her right mind – all’s right with the world.

Yakusoku no Neverland – 09-10[031145, 130146]

by AidanAK47, posted in Finished Series: Mystery/Suspense, Yakusoku no Neverland

I said it once, i said it twice, i likely said it more times than needed but that’s just how obvious that it’s become but these episodes truly are lacking content wise. I know this stance Has gonna tiresome for anyone taking the time to read this but it really does remain a problem for me who has to review each episode individually and find that I can fit an episode synopsis into a paragraph. When thinking about it I could fit it into a sentence. Kids decide that Norman will escape first and he attempts it only to find that there is an obstacle that they didn’t account for. The next episode being just Normans death(?) and the characters reaction to it. What am I really to say here?

Well I do like how Norman’s feelings are portrayed which getting water for Emma and just the pure terror and despair in his eyes but I did feel the scene went longer than it needed to. We didn’t need that long shot of Norman walking to the sink. That was just padding for time. As well as the long lingering shots when mom was checking her watch. I get the intent but it dragged longer than it needed to. So on to the rather odd explanation as to how Ray found out about the nature of the farm. I say many of us wouldn’t find it all the surprising if Ray found it out by himself just from investigating as he is the most meticulous of the group. Happy or not he is likely to begin to question the nature of the farm and it is fairly likely he would find out. Yet instead the reasoning they give for Ray finding out is due to him having memories from the time he was born. Yes, Ray can remember things from when he was barely a few months old, or even when he was a fetus. This is certainly one of the weirdest explanations they could have gone with. It’s also highly debatable if this is even possible considering that at the point of being born Ray’s facilities for retaining memory may not have even developed yet. Admittedly the children of the farms are super geniuses so genetic tampering may be in effect but it’s still rather odd if Ray could understand anything going on at the time and not dismiss it later as some childhood nightmare.

As for the episode focusing on Norman’s death, I admit this didn’t really affect me. I feel that being a manga reader has proven to be a detriment as many of the moments building tension or pushing for a emotional punchline tend to fall flat to me due to my knowledge of what is to happen. So having the characters all react hopelessly to Normans departure and Emma’s last ditch efforts to try and save Norman just didn’t really get a reaction out of me. I don’t feel that anything on screen was presented poorly but there is this overwhelming sense of just wanting it to get on with things. Of course there is the big question of what exactly happened with Norman as it wasn’t shown him getting killed. Hints are pointing heavily towards Norman not having died and instead being chosen for some other duty but really be it manga or otherwise I don’t have confirmation on that. If there is one thing I truly appreciate in this series it’s Isabella, I love the contrast between her utter ruthlessness in doing her job and an underlying current that she truly loves these kids.

Norman asking her whether she was truly happy and how much that question threw her off balance show that in this world humans like Isabella may have a disconnect in that they are so focused on staying alive that the notion of being happy is such an unknown concept. I never grow tired of Isabella while the main characters of the series I find myself growing increasingly disinterested in. Some efforts to develop them have been made such as the flashback to when Norman was sick but they just feel rather basic. I will give credit to the seemly flasefied depression that Emma and Ray displayed as it makes for a good ending hook to show they haven’t given up even when Isabella thinks she has won. But at this point I have grown tired of the planning and just want this escape plan to be carried out already.

Paranoia Agent – 8 [Happy Family Planning] – Throwback Thursday

by Lenlo, posted in Paranoia Agent, Throwback Thursday

Hello and welcome to another weird week of Paranoia Agent! This time we have suicide pacts, gallows humor and some interesting filler content. Lets jump in!

As always, lets start with production. Paranoia Agent was… acceptable, is the best I can say. It was expressive when it wanted to be. But it simply doesn’t match up with some of the previous episodes. It used a lot still shots, which had some interesting direction, but didn’t wow me at all. Not a bad showing for a glorified filler episode, but that’s all this week was. A filler episode, with loose ties to the central plot. It was interesting, as we will dive into later, but at the moment it feels inconsequential. As if were the episode removed, the overarching plot would be the same. For such a plot driven, thematic series, that leaves me a little disappointed. After all, the only character really connected to the main series here is Kozuma, and even then only loosely. Yet still, this filler was richer than most other series.

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru – 21 [Goodbye, Beautiful World]

by Lenlo, posted in Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru

Another week, another set of Kaze Fui boys run the Ekiden. Today we have Yuki and Nico, from the older half of our group, running their hearts out. There’s family drama, crushed dreams and more emotions than I can handle. Lets jump in!

Sticking with my stereotypes, let’s start with production. There was some reused footage this week when Yuki was running down the hill. Taking some bends, as he swayed right and left, with only the backgrounds being different. I actually didn’t notice this at first, because of how engrossing the narrative is, and so I can’t dock it to much for it, but it is there. We also saw the return of the CGI that, when placed up against Yuki’s leg muscles flexing as he runs, only become more worthy of criticism. All that said though, direction continues to be Kaze Fui’s strong point. With multiple wide shots of the landscape, our characters small against the mountains of Hakone, drawing the eye. There was also some fantastic, expressive, facial animation on Jota with Kurahara. So all things considered, it wasn’t a bad week for Kaze Fui. Now, onto spoiler territory.

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Mob Psycho 100 S2 – 10 [Collision ~Power Type~]

by Lenlo, posted in Mob Psycho 100 II

Hello and welcome once more to Mob Psycho 100, the premier animation destination of the Winter 2019 season. This week we have some fantastic highs, questionable lows and a show of brotherly love to rival Run with the Wind. Lets jump in!

As always, let’s start with production. After some discussion on last episode in the comments, I resolved to try and look a bit more closely at some of Mob Psycho’s stills and group shots. From what I saw, I can understand the opinion that it doesn’t look great. However, in my personal opinion, I think it comes down to the style. BONES purposely chose to mimic ONE’s simple style, to allow for more consistent and expressive animation. Yes, some of the stills come off as iffy. However I think this one comes down to personal preference. As Mob Psycho looks like nothing else airing right now, and stands out from the pack because of it. It’s willing to go wildly off model for the sake of effect, putting the strengths of the medium first. Whatever costs it has, I am willing to pay them. Now onto spoilers!

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